A new fascinating feature is out by The Guardian magazine (via writer Richard Godwin) on the future of the human body. Six of us are interviewed and/or wrote about our take on the future. Fun reading! My mini-essay is in this: https://www.theguardian.com/…/regular-body-upgrades-what-wi… #transhumanism
Mechanical exoskeletons, bionic limbs, uploadable brains: six experts’ visions of 2118.
In a world increasingly driven by industries that rely on advanced technical learning and innovation, fluency in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math) becomes more vital every day. Yet our education system isn’t keeping up. Five years ago, a Business-Higher Education Forum study found that 80% of high school students either lacked interest or proficiency in STEM subjects. Meanwhile, a college and career readiness organization known as ACT reported last year that the number of students pursuing STEM careers is growing at less than 1% annually.
The Amgen Foundation is doing something about it. As the principal philanthropic arm of Amgen, the largest independent biotechnology company, the Amgen Foundation has been committed to inspiring the next generation of scientists and innovators by making immersive science education a focus of its social investments for almost 30 years. While Amgen has reached millions of patients around the world with biotechnology medicines to combat serious illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and migraines, the Amgen Foundation has reached more than 4 million students globally—and it is poised to launch a new program called LabXchange with the potential to reach millions more.
“As a scientist, it’s clear to me that the most effective way to learn science is by doing it,” says David Reese, executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen and member of the Amgen Foundation board of directors. “It’s time to transform the science learning experience. We need to move from information acquisition to application and exploration, from students as passive listeners to active participants in the learning process, from teachers as knowledge transmitters to facilitators and coaches.”
Posted in biotech/medical
The transmission electron microscope was designed to break records. Using its beam of electrons, scientists have glimpsed many types of viruses for the first time. They’ve used it to study parts of biological cells like ribosomes and mitochondria. You can see individual atoms with it.
But experts have recently unlocked new potential for the machine. “It’s been a very dramatic and sudden shift,” says physicist David Muller of Cornell University. “It was a little bit like everyone was flying biplanes, and all of a sudden, here’s a jetliner.”
You’ve read your last complimentary article this month. To read the full article, SUBSCRIBE NOW. If you’re already a subscriber, please sign in and and verify your subscription.
A ten-year-old beagle with prostate cancer is helping researchers at The University of Queensland use nanomedicines to accurately diagnose and target the disease.
Hoover is the first patient in the world to receive the nanomedicine, which the research team hopes will help track and treat his cancer, and lead to better treatment for people with the same disease.
Nanomedicine is the science of developing tiny particles for applications in health — in this case therapeutics to specifically target a protein found in prostate cancer.
Announcing Two Ini Postdoctoral Fellowships
Ini Fellowship in Neuroscience Research
The Iowa Neuroscience Institute ( INI ), part of the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa, seeks talented postdoctoral scientists to engage in cutting-edge neuroscience research. The INI was established in January 2017, supported by a transformational $45 million grant to the University of Iowa from The Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust. Led by Director Ted Abel, Ph.D., the INI is a comprehensive and cross-disciplinary neuroscience center spanning 5 colleges and 26 departments, dedicated to finding the causes of — and preventions, treatments, and cures for — the many diseases that affect the brain and nervous system. Successful candidates will join a strong cohort of postdoctoral fellows working in the field of neuroscience, such as those participating in the NIH –funded INSPIRE program. The University of Iowa Postdoctoral Association provides a variety of social and professional development opportunities on campus.
As of June, a total of 31 states and the District of Columbia allow for the use of medical marijuana. Pain is the most common reason people say they need this cannabis and the vast majority of users say that it helps. However, despite the claims of the many individuals who believe that cannabinoids — the chemicals in marijuana — can ease pain, it’s been difficult for scientists to explain why. Researchers published in JAMA Psychiatry now claim to clarify the discrepancy.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis released Wednesday, scientists from Syracuse University explain that while studies can’t currently prove that cannabinoid drugs reduce pain, research does demonstrate that they can help with the experience of feeling pain. An evaluation of 18 studies that included 442 adults revealed that the use of cannabinoid drugs modestly increased people’s threshold for pain and reduced pain’s overall sensation of unpleasantness. This suggests to the researchers that cannabis’ analgesic properties, or ability to relieve pain, affect the mind rather than the body.
“This [result] is especially salient because managing chronic pain is not solely about minimizing pain,” Kevin Boehnke, Ph.D., who was not involved in the study, tells Inverse. Boehnke is currently a part of a University of Michigan study also analyzing the effect of cannabis on chronic pain. “Sleep problems, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and other factors tie into the experience of chronic pain.”
Today, we would like to share a talk given by Stephen Hilbert, President of Oisin Biotechnologies, in which he discusses treating aging and cancer by removing harmful senescent cells.
On July 12th, we hosted our first conference, Ending Age-Related Diseases: Investment Prospects & Advances in Research, at the Frederick P. Rose Auditorium, which is part of the Cooper Union campus in New York City. The packed event saw a range of people from research, investment, and the wider community coming together for a day of science and biotech business presentations and panels.
One of the companies at the event was Oisin Biotechnologies, a company working on therapies that remove harmful senescent cells, which accumulate as we age and drive aging processes through the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), which leads to chronic inflammation.
